trahelyk
Active Member
My local LFS recommended the Spectrapure 90 gpd when I was in the market last spring, and based on the comments I'm seeing here, I'm glad they did. I do usually get < 2 TDS out of the RO filter and 0 out of the DI.
"using distilled water" or "reverse osmosis water"
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Yup, we've got some hard water here. Come to think about it, we had a club members get 2 "bad membranes" in a row once, and some others over the years have had problems with membranes in general. Like you said, lasting a year or two, and that was always "the way it was"...now I'm thinking, it doesn't have to be
I can tell you that for years I used tap water and had tons of issues. Fish dead. Lots of bad algae ect. The past couple of years I have been using a four chamber under the counter RO/DI unit that I have converted to attatch directly to my kitchen faucets spout. I have no issues with water now. No death. Even macro algae is doing great in the refugium. Then there's the very sensitive copods. Long story short. Does not matter what size the tank is. Use Reverse osmosis/ deionized water only!!
Newb73
Valuable Member
The BRS units come pretty much assembled, and they have videos about how to install.
Generally though you just hook it up so that the water goes 1st through the RO pre filters/carbon blocks then the RO membrane and lastly the DI resin. The filters will be labeled. Just follow the water lines so they go through the filters in the right sequence. The murlock connections are just plug and play.
I tried using Distilled water from the grocery store for a nano years ago and it was basically just as bad as tap water. Verdict: Distilled water from a store is a scam.
Generally though you just hook it up so that the water goes 1st through the RO pre filters/carbon blocks then the RO membrane and lastly the DI resin. The filters will be labeled. Just follow the water lines so they go through the filters in the right sequence. The murlock connections are just plug and play.
I tried using Distilled water from the grocery store for a nano years ago and it was basically just as bad as tap water. Verdict: Distilled water from a store is a scam.
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Newb73
Valuable Member
You keep using yours ill keep using mine. I have the BRS 6 stage universal filter and have already run close to 1,000 gallons through it. I get rapid water production 48psi on the gauge, zero TDS going into the first membrane through the exhaust. The prefilter is beginning to show a red stain (Georgia red clay??) and ill change the dual carbon blocks once a year because I doubt they will get exhausted before then. It may be overkill but the difference in price over the el cheapo units is negligible compared to what I have in my tank and I don't see the need to cheap out on something so important especially when not cheaping out means I don't have to be constantly manually testing my water. Yes my tap water is no where near as contaniminated as they claim but ill ask you this.
What is your source of info that there are no municipal water plants producing very poor water. I want to see the source of this information or credible info that you have personally travel the country testing all the water in every city. I'm not saying you are wrong, I am saying I want to see that data (because I have lived in places where the water was baaaaaaad....so bad I wouldn't even drink it).
All public water systems in the US are regulated under the EPA Safe Drinking Water Act. This means they must test for and adhere to all the contaminants listed on the EPA website at a minimum and any others local or state regulators may add. If they violate any regulations they must do public notification and develop and implement a plan to get back into compliance or they will be required to enter into a consent decree where the regulators basically control their operation until such time as it is safe again. That is not a place a utility wants to be as they can be liable on both civil and criminal levels meaning they can not only be fined but they can lose their license and go to jail as an individual too. Public Health is taken very seriously.
None if it is good quality distilled water. I recommend buying a good handheld TDS meter if you plan on buying water from any source so you be be assured of its quality.
Newb73
Valuable Member
You have more faith in public utilities and gov regs than I do. For the most part I agree with you but areas are absolutely going to have water that is worse than others (even if they are "minimum spec"). In my life time however, I have never seen a single example of a gov ran.....anything (or regulaulated for that matter) that didn't have failures...(its not rare to see spectacular failures). 
As a certified water treatment professional with over 40 years in the industry I would have to disagree with you. I do have faith in the system since it has many levels of regulation to catch and weed out the bad or dishonest individuals and utilities. When I managed municipal utilities we were regulated by the feds, the state, the County and our own municipal government so things did not slip through the cracks. The system works.
I agree !! I tested the city water here in Nashua with TDS and it read 254. That was during the summer time. I just retested it and got 156. I don't know what these utility folks are putting in the water but I do know I want zero.You have more faith in public utilities and gov regs than I do. For the most part I agree with you but areas are absolutely going to have water that is worse than others (even if they are "minimum spec"). In my life time however, I have never seen a single example of a gov ran.....anything (or regulaulated for that matter) that didn't have failures...(its not rare to see spectacular failures).
TDS is not a contaminant and is not a health risk by itself. It has no maximum contaminant level and is not regulated since it is considered an aesthetic nuisance. It is not a measurement of anything specific and only means something electrically conductive is present. It could be all calcium or magnesium which are beneficial. It is the many hundreds of substances that are regulated by the EPA and have maximum contaminant levels that are important and which your water utility must test for and report annually to their consumers that you need to worry about.
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TaylorPilot
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@AZDesertRat I just picked up a .2 micron sediment, 1 micron chlorplus and a .5 micron carbon filter. I read my cities water report today and the chloramine levels tested ranged from 2.5 to 3.6 ppm. I think that is pretty high right? I am replacing old filters and just wanted to know your opinion on filter order. Obviously sediment first, but should I put the chlorplus before the .5 micron or vice versa. I plan on changing out the RO unit soon with their 99% model. I have been running a 1 micron sediment, loose catalytic carbon and a chlorplus with a 75 GPD Filmtec membrane and it BURNS through DI. Maybe 125 gallons per 10" housing. Hopefully this will help fix it.
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Harold Green
Well-Known Member
I finally broke down and bought a tds meter. My well water has a tds of 87 which I don't consider too bad but I still won't use it straight into my tanks. It's easy enough to add a three way valve to the water coming out of the ro membrane and letting it run each time you make water. I know the lowest level it will reach by checking the tds and when it reaches that level I switch it to run through the di resin. I don't know if there was a problem or not with the resin packed into my di canisters with the last ro unit I bought but it was exhausted almost at the first use. I looked up directions for how to recharge the di resin and took a shot at it. Repacked it into my canisters and now after running over a hundred gallons through it, it doesn't appear to be having any problem with keeping the di out water at zero tds so I'm pleased with the recharging. It takes a couple of hours to recharge but costs pennies each time compared to replacing the resin frequently with new. At one time I had a home distiller and made my own distilled water. The distilled water companies may use stainless steel lines but the home units had copper tubing and I have to believe the distilled water will contain some levels of copper. Definitely something you want to avoid.
TaylorPilot
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I forgot to add that I've heard of people recommending that you sanitize your unit once a year. How is that accomplished. Do you do the RO housing as well, since you are replacing that unit every year?
If you are burning through DI you may have a CO2 issue with your water. Spectraure has a nomograph on their website you can use to check the level if you know your pH and your alkalinity.
http://spectrapure.com/frequently-asked-questions#calcc02
I do not recommend two carbons, everything you add in front of the RO membrane has an associated headloss and cost which lowers the efficiency of the membrane and raises the cost of operation. You are far better off with a single 0.2 micron absolute rated sediment filter and 0.5 micron carbon block and turn the extra canister into a dual DI. Chloramines are not as bad as many will try to tell you and a well protected 0.5 carbon is way more than sufficient to remove the chlorine portion of the chloramines and break the bond with the ammonia which is partially removed by the RO and polished off by the DI, not any carbons. Your chloramines level is within the EPA Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) of 4.0 .
Modern commercial distillation units do not contain any copper, they are exotic metals like titanium or high end stainless and often glass or epoxy lined.
I do not recommend recharging DI resins since it cannot be done properly at home with mixed bed resins, use caustic chemicals, waste quite a bit of water when done right and can never be recharged back to near 100%. I prefer using a more efficient RO membrane protected by the best sediment and carbon block filters so it in turn protects better DI resin with lots of contact time. I get 1000+ gallons out of a single MaxCap DI cartridge and 3000+ gallons out of a single SilicaBuster cartridge with a softened tap water TDS of 560 going in at 95 psi using a booster pump. No need to recharge resins since they last me 1-3 years per cartridge.
Yes you should sanitize your RO or RO/DI system at least annually if not at every 6 month filter replacement. It only takes two ounces or so of Chlorox and 5 minutes time since you already have the system apart anyway. I have posted my method hundreds of times on all the reef forums or you can follow the instructions that your RO system vendor should have provided in their owners manual.
http://spectrapure.com/frequently-asked-questions#calcc02
I do not recommend two carbons, everything you add in front of the RO membrane has an associated headloss and cost which lowers the efficiency of the membrane and raises the cost of operation. You are far better off with a single 0.2 micron absolute rated sediment filter and 0.5 micron carbon block and turn the extra canister into a dual DI. Chloramines are not as bad as many will try to tell you and a well protected 0.5 carbon is way more than sufficient to remove the chlorine portion of the chloramines and break the bond with the ammonia which is partially removed by the RO and polished off by the DI, not any carbons. Your chloramines level is within the EPA Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) of 4.0 .
Modern commercial distillation units do not contain any copper, they are exotic metals like titanium or high end stainless and often glass or epoxy lined.
I do not recommend recharging DI resins since it cannot be done properly at home with mixed bed resins, use caustic chemicals, waste quite a bit of water when done right and can never be recharged back to near 100%. I prefer using a more efficient RO membrane protected by the best sediment and carbon block filters so it in turn protects better DI resin with lots of contact time. I get 1000+ gallons out of a single MaxCap DI cartridge and 3000+ gallons out of a single SilicaBuster cartridge with a softened tap water TDS of 560 going in at 95 psi using a booster pump. No need to recharge resins since they last me 1-3 years per cartridge.
Yes you should sanitize your RO or RO/DI system at least annually if not at every 6 month filter replacement. It only takes two ounces or so of Chlorox and 5 minutes time since you already have the system apart anyway. I have posted my method hundreds of times on all the reef forums or you can follow the instructions that your RO system vendor should have provided in their owners manual.
jadwv2210
Active Member
I've got one of the BRS units and I'm fairly happy with its performance so far.
That being said after reading what you've said and doing my own research I have a few questions.
Is it possible for me to use the spectra pure DI resins and RO membranes in my BRS unit? Or will I have to make modifications to it to use those filters.
I've got a pressure gauge after the carbon stage and from my tap I can get over 100psi on this gauge. That means over 100psi going into the membrane. I generally run it at about 75. Is there a maximum pressure to run these systems at or is it just better to run it at full pressure constantly?
Yes, Spectrapure uses the industry standard size filters and 1812 series membranes. You will replace the entire cartridge though versus bulk resin as Spectrapure use multiple resins and they layer them to take advantage of internal pH and other changes within the rein bed unlike standard mixed bed resins which are fully blended.
Membranes love pressure and are rated at up to 150 psi or higher. If the components in your RO/DI are UPC and ANSI/NSF rated they should have a 125-150 psi operating range. Vendors often say 60-80 psi but that is strictly a liability issue and not where a membrane operates the most efficiently. I have run my RO/DI at 95-100 psi for over 8 years now with zero issues. Don't restrict the pressure and you will be much happier and have better treatment.
Membranes love pressure and are rated at up to 150 psi or higher. If the components in your RO/DI are UPC and ANSI/NSF rated they should have a 125-150 psi operating range. Vendors often say 60-80 psi but that is strictly a liability issue and not where a membrane operates the most efficiently. I have run my RO/DI at 95-100 psi for over 8 years now with zero issues. Don't restrict the pressure and you will be much happier and have better treatment.
It's funny how I bumped a thread for a friend to see @AZDesertRat's comments about Spectrapure/etc and it takes off again. On the BRS systems, that's why I bumped it for him. He has torn through 3 of their membranes (Dow filmtec) in just a few months. You get what you pay for, sometimes you get lucky but this is not the first person I have personally come into contact with that has had issues that could be pinpointed to the membrane
